


Old Friends

by Not_You



Series: It's Weird When Shaw Is Nice [7]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Babies, Erik is fabulous, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, diplomatic visits can be fun, too many descriptions of finery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-20 00:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/579410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Wakanda delegation comes to call.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Friends

Anya is almost six when Father gets the letter. It doesn't look like the others, bound in some pretty cloth. It looks a bit like some of the less runic embroidery patterns, but in beautiful bright colors, the black markings bold against it. She is in Father's study learning about business and practicing her reading when he unfurls it, smiling as he reads.

"What is it, Father?"

"This is from the king of Wakanda. Can you read what he says?"

Anya climbs into his lap and squints at the missive. She can read pretty well, but kings use very long words. She stumbles over them and Father helps her and explains what T'Challa means when she doesn't understand. Apparently he is coming to visit, because it has been a while and allies should keep in touch. "He probably has some other reason, too" Father says, "we'll have to see."

It's Mother's job to greet the Wakanda queen and make her comfortable, and he makes sure her rooms are particularly nice. "She's a very good and noble lady," he tells Anya, "and I always want her to know that I think so." Anya nods, and listens as he tells her about Ororo, who is a phenomenal weather mage and always gives him good advice. Running about and watching the preparations, she learns a lot. That T'Challa is generally thought of as a good king, and that Father's return of the shrine statue has made them feel a bit indebted. Hearing how precious the thing is, she can certainly understand it. The statue was made by the first Wakanda queen and dedicated to their highest god and kept in the holiest places until it somehow managed to go missing for a good fifty years. She finds books with pictures of the Wakandas and their gods. Here they're supposed to only believe in one god, but Father mutters incantations to the little gods under his breath when he needs their help. Mother's people really do only believe in one god, but even he has a strange little box that he says contains a nearer and warmer piece of Him.

The Wakandas have a whole fascinating pantheon, though. Deified clan chiefs and the creators of the world and a man-shaped god with the head of a hawk who carries messages between heaven and earth. Charles has read a great deal about all kinds of gods, and tells her stories from all over the world, cooing some of them in Stonetongue for David. She always likes reading with Charles, and he is able to tell her a great deal about Wakanda, though unlike Father and Mother has never met the royal family. She gets impatient for them to arrive but at last they do. In their own country they use open carts for everything because it's warm enough. Here they use northern style carriages, but where Father would drape the Shaw livery (a gold talon on a red ground) they have cloth like what bound their letter. Charles says that it's a clan pattern, which is like livery but also different. Charles is so beautiful that Anya doesn't dare touch him. He's dressed in blue silk that matches his eyes, and is actually wearing some of the Westchester jewels he brought with him. Like the embroidery, everyone has their own way of working jewelry and so far Anya likes them all. Charles's necklace is longer than she is tall when fully unwound, and made of fine gold chain with beveled medallions of clear blue stone every eight inches or so. It makes him look like a sea sprite, and his face is like an ivory mask, too beautiful to be real. Mother refuses to let Anya wear cosmetics yet, but she is allowed to watch him apply them because she will need to know how when she's older.

Mother sweeps up behind them as if Anya's thoughts have summoned him. He doesn't have Charles's perfect mask, but his eyes seem to glow with the kohl around them, and his lips and eyes are touched with silver. He wears northern jewelry, a collar and cuffs of the ancient squared spiral design his people favor, and his robe is black, his favorite scarlet surcoat keeping it from looking like a funeral garment. Anya is in boring old white because it's what befits a child for court. She's not supposed to have colors in anything but her accessories until she turns seven, but Charles is working on Mother for her.

At last they file down to court, where Father is settled on the dias. The ancient Shaws were barbarians, and Father doesn't think that's all bad. Instead of an uncomfortable throne with some sort of silly bench or cushion arrangement for wives and children, they have a nice big pile of frostrunner pelts and cushions up on the dais. They're just settled when T'Challa's herald comes in. He's very tall, very black, and very solemn. Anya is fascinated by the way his skin catches the light, and by the contrast with the yellow robe he's wearing. On one of their people it would be garish, and might even make them look jaundiced, but on him it's just bright and beautiful. He bows and announces his master and other members of the household, greets them very prettily, offers the most graceful bow Anya has ever seen (though it's a strange one, with the hands out to the sides), and lightly claps his hands. A boy only a bit older than Alex comes in with a golden casket. He's more brown than black, but has the same almond eyes and long legs. He sets the gift at the foot of the dais and falls back. There are black pearls inside, each one lustrous and perfect. Father stands and thanks them very much, and stays that way when T'Challa comes in so he can stride over and grab his forearms in that gesture that isn't really a hug. Both the king and queen of Wakanda are beautiful, and the queen's hair is perfectly white even though she's young, and it spills down her back in an impossible number of tiny braids. She has a baby wrapped across her chest, a little dark bundle that starts to yawn and stretch as she and Mother greet each other.

They don't really get to talk until after dinner, because there are so many courses and so many political things to talk about. Anya is bored, but tries to behave. Mother can tell, and rubs her back and promises that she doesn't have to stay for all of it. She doesn't, either. Nurse comes to take her away after the first three courses, promising to procure Anya's share of the sweets from the kitchen. Nurse is good like that, and hands her David, who is a swaddled, sleepy mass. She coos at him and holds him up in the nursery, delighted when the boy who carried the casket comes in a bit later with Queen Ororo's baby. He smiles at her and sets about changing its soiled diaper. His name turns out to be D'Warin, and he will be a clan chief one day of a clan that has been through some hard times and petitioned the king to take him in for a bit to better his education and connections. Anya nods.

"We're doing that for Alex, but with magic."

"Oh? Someone pointed him out to me, but only said he was being fostered here. There you are," he says to the baby, who babbles as D'Warin cleans up, plump little feet pink on the bottom as it kicks chubby legs.

"He's a fire mage, but he has a hard time keeping it inside. What's the baby's name?"

"This is Azari. I take it your little friend is David?"

"Yeah." She kisses one of David's streaks, and he yawns. D'Warin chuckles, and they settle down and talk for a long time. It's interesting enough that she's surprised when Nurse comes back with dessert.

"Here we are, Miss Anya. I got a bit of everything and enough for D'Warin to have some too."

D'Warin thanks her kindly, and lets Anya explain all the options to him. Having less sugar than Wakanda, there's more honey and dried fruit than he's used to, but he says that it's all very good. Since David is teething and babies aren't supposed to have honey, Anya gives him a small dried plum to gum on, and he gnashes his little not-teeth happily.

**Author's Note:**

> I did my best with Darwin's name, hope it worked.


End file.
